Guidelines for Placer Claim Staking in Yukon 2 Guidelines for Claim Staking Guidelines for Claim Staking. Before you set out to stake your own Yukon placer claim, please read these instructions. This brochure provides you with an overview of how to stake a claim and what requirements you must follow. District mining recorder’s offices, also called mining lands offices, are key locations for obtaining information about the activities described in this document. Yukon government mining recorders staff these offices and are available to answer any questions you might have. Their contact information is available on the back of this publication. Placer claim staking in the Yukon is ‘on the ground’ staking. You must travel to the area you intend to claim and put posts in the ground. There is no provision in the Placer Mining Act that allows ‘map staking’ or the staking of claims using maps only. 1. What is placer mining? 2. Where can you stake? Placer mining involves mining where earth, soil Before staking a claim, make sure the ground is open or gravel may be removed, washed, shifted, for staking. Visit yukonminingrecorder.ca to view refined or otherwise dealt with for the purpose existing claims in the area. Yukon government of obtaining gold or other precious minerals strongly recommends that you check with the or stones. It does not include the working of district mining recorder’s office before staking a rock (or bedrock which relates to hard rock or claim to ensure that all of the maps are complete lode mining), nor does it include the removal of and up to date. gravels or soils for purposes other than obtaining precious minerals (gold) or stones, for example Staking is not permitted on the following: quarrying. • Over active placer claims or prospecting leases Please note: Staking a placer claim does not give • First Nation Category A settlement land the claim holder surface rights or the exclusive • Yard or land immediately adjacent to a house or rights to the land; claims are not private property dwelling and you cannot build a permanent structure or • Parks and special land management areas residence on a claim. Placer claims cannot be used for commercial purposes (other than placer • Cemeteries and burial grounds mining) and the owner of a claim cannot give • Lands withdrawn from staking for the permission to a third party to occupy the surface settlement of land claims for any purpose other than placer mining. • Within a municipal boundary General qualifications for placer staking • Any land removed from staking by Order in Council (often referred to as OICs) Anyone 18 years or older can stake a claim. There If you have any questions regarding where you is no requirement for Canadian citizenship or can stake a claim, please contact the mining Yukon residency. recorder’s office for your district (see back page). Corporations proposing to do business in Yukon, which includes holding placer claims, must be registered with Yukon government’s Corporate Affairs: www.community.gov.yk.ca/corp. Guidelines for Claim Staking 3 3. Check your kit before you leave 4. The two post staking system Ensure you have all the information and In Yukon, every placer claim must be marked on equipment you need before going out to stake a the ground by two legal posts, one at each end claim. Obtain a copy of the placer claim maps for of a location line that runs along, or parallel to, your area of interest to help you identify possible a base line. The purpose of a location line is to claim locations. Maps are available online or at a ensure that another party interested in staking mining recorder’s office for a fee. a claim in the vicinity will be able to cross the location line at any point and recognize they may Safety preparations be on a pre-existing claim. Claim staking generally occurs in remote and a) Locations of claims wilderness areas with limited or no cell phone coverage or access to emergency services. Most Claims can be staked as creek claims, bench claims are accessed via unpaved roads or trails claims or river/lake claims in accordance with which see varying levels of maintenance. Changes the center valley bottom of a creek or along the in weather can cause significant changes in ordinary high water mark of a river or lake, known road conditions within hours, which may render as the base line. If the base line is surveyed, it previously driveable sections of roads impassable. will run between the survey pins which define it. If the base line is unsurveyed, the base line is a Please use sound judgement when exploring areas projected line which follows the general direction and ensure you have appropriate supplies needed of the creek valley bottom or the ordinary high to stay safe; this includes safety supplies to deal water mark of rivers and lakes. Yukon government with changing weather and road conditions, and claim maps show surveyed base lines in purple wildlife encounters. Unless you are near a settled and unsurveyed base lines in red. area with assured coverage, do not rely on cell phones for communications or mapping. Claims must be staked in conjunction with a base line and cannot be staked in the “middle of Mine roads and claim maps nowhere”. Claims and subsequent tiers of claims cannot cross over the height of land into the basin Exercise caution while driving on mine access of another creek or water body. roads as heavy equipment and wide loads can be encountered at any time. Also be aware that there Creek claims: are no street signs or location markers on most mining roads. • Posts are staked at a maximum of 500 feet apart on the base line that runs up the middle Claim maps should not be relied upon for navigation for a standard claim. as road and trail information is not kept up to date • Posts mark the upstream and downstream end and roads within mined areas may be altered at any boundaries of the claim. time to accommodate mining activities. • End boundaries of the claim extend 1000 feet in both directions perpendicular to the base line. • The total claim area of a standard creek claim is a rectangle 500 feet by 2000 feet. Base line vs. Location line – A base line, as noted in section “Location of Claims,” is either the imaginary line between survey pins, or for an unsurveyed base line, in the general direction of the creek. A location line must be created, in the form of a cut line, for every claim. When staking creek claims, the location line and base line will be in the same location. When staking bench claims, the location line will run parallel to the base line. 4 Guidelines for Claim Staking River/Lake claims vs. Bench claims – Claims staked along the edge of a river or lake and bench claims are all technically the same kind of claim. They are referred to as “claims staked elsewhere than on a creek” by the Placer Mining Act. They are all limited to a 1000 foot throw in the direction away from the base line. River and lake claims are used to describe claims that are directly on the base line of a river or lake. A bench claim describes any claim staked on the tiers above a claim staked directly on the base line. A bench claim references the distance of the claim from the base line, and does not necessarily mean that a claim will be situated on the physical benches above a creek or river. • There are no posts on the outer boundaries of a creek” (everything else). The above noted terms; a claim. creek claims, bench claims, and river/lake claims • If your claim boundaries extend into another are commonly used terms which help to clarify the valid claim, then only the open and available location of and terms and conditions of each. ground will be part of the claim. b) Types of claims Bench claims: There are three different types of claims you can • Are staked on a tier on either side of a creek stake; a standard claim, a discovery claim or a claim. co-discovery claim. The Placer Mining Act outlines • Do not actually lie on a base line; instead they the permitted lengths for each claim type. lie on a line parallel to a base line. Standard claims allow a maximum of 500 feet • Posts are staked along a location line at 1000 between post one and post two. This distance may foot intervals away from and parallel to the be less in order to fill in a ‘hole’ left between other base line. claims. Work requirements and fees are standardized • Bench claims always extend (throw) only one and the same rules apply to any size of claim. direction away from the base line. The total permitted size of a standard bench claim is If there are no claims in good standing on a creek 500 feet x 1000 feet. or river, a staker can stake a discovery claim or • Bench claims can be staked in relation to creek, two stakers working together, can stake adjoining river or lake claims. co-discovery claims. Discovery and co-discovery claims are an advantage for the first staker on a River claims/Lake claims: creek or river, or on a tier of a creek or river, as • Are staked in the same manner as bench they are larger in size. Recording, renewal fees and claims, but along either side of a river.